Time....it's something we all want more of but, ironically, we cannot always find the time to take time off from the daily grind. I have learned the importance of making time to enjoy and appreciate the little things in life in the past year, especially from two of my favorite men: my nephew and my boyfriend.
My 26-month old nephew is so much fun to watch. I recently spent a weekend with him and was entertained by the simplicity of watching how he takes in and reacts to his surroundings. My sister bought flowers as a centerpiece for the dinner table and when he saw the flowers, he exclaimed in delight "Mommy, I want to smell the flowers!" Of course, his idea of smelling involves blowing out of his nose because that's the sound he hears when other people smell flowers but I got the point he was trying to make. No matter how young or old you are, you need to take time to smell the roses.
My other favorite man (sharing the title with my nephew, of course) is my boyfriend, who is by far the funniest, most outgoing, and kindest person I know. He is always taking time to enjoy the little things in life and in the past two years, I have learned to incorporate his outlook on life into my daily interactions with the people and places I encounter. Now, I may not have done a complete 180 as far as my outlook on life is concerned - because I am known to be an organized, responsible person - but I believe I've made strides. So from the second source of entertainment in my life, I have learned to always make time to smell the roses.
You may be asking yourself how this theme ties into the past year of my life...and I'm about to get to that part. In the past year, I changed jobs (I previously spent 5 years in the Coast Guard), found a new job in a new field (I'm a project manager for construction projects), and moved from rural Virginia to downtown Fort Lauderdale, FL (goodbye battlefields, hello rush hour traffic). These changes were overwhelming, to say the least, and I could not have done it without the support of my boyfriend or my family. Regardless of how many changes and what else may have come up in the past year, I have learned to and I am still trying to always make time for the little things. I'm a work in progress but, if you ask me - so far, so good!
1 comment:
I enjoyed reading about your self assessment. I completed Managing Employees, Professionals and Teams over the summer and one of the take aways from that course was that we all need to understand our emotional intelligence. One of the starting points of understanding emotional intelligence is a self-assessment as well as a viewing how we are perceived by others. I suspect you are applying several of the principles of emotional intelligence by applying observed behavior of smelling the roses that you shared regarding your nephew and your boyfriend.
I thank you for your service to your country. I think the Coast Guard is often overshadowed by the larger services but is definitely a critical protecting our country coastline from harm and illegal activity.
I would enjoy seeing some pictures of your service days as well as learning about the Coast Guard in any of your future blog entries.
I will be moving to Miami in January. Do you know of others in the BU on-line program in the Miami or Ft. Lauderdale area?
Cheers!
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